


Killing Him Softly

by tielan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5121998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maria Hill is going to kill her boss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Killing Him Softly

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this in my head for a while now. Finished for [Maria Hill Week](https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/maria-hill-week) over on tumblr.

Maria Hill is going to  _kill_ her boss.

There was a reason Phil shut TAHITI down – not least of which was the psychological damage to the individuals who volunteered to be tested. And sure, a complete mindwipe was an option – but not one of the sane ones in her opinion.

Unfortunately, the air’s a helluva lot thinner this high up in the organisational structure, and she’s still catching her breath after her unexpected elevation. What started out as a chance to give the World Security Council the finger turned into a promotion – which was enough of shock even before Fury read her in to TAHITI and Phil.

And  _then_ he dumped Captain America on her, instead of on Romanoff who’s only out in the midwest being called ‘Auntie’ and getting to cuddle a couple of kids who Maria always tells Clint can’t be his because they’re too damned cute for his ugly mug. 

At any rate, here she is, conducting a fucking  _job interview_ with Steve Rogers, as though there was any possibility they weren’t going to take on the supersoldier who started it all.

But she’s civil. After four years in the armed forces, and seven years with SHIELD, Maria knows how to be perfectly, utterly, unobjectionably civil.

Unfortunately, it looks like Steve Rogers is sharp enough to know when someone isn’t glad to see him.

“I feel like I should apologise.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Do you care to tell me?”

Maria exhales, and looks away. “My apologies, Captain. It’s been a hard week.”

“My condolences for your losses.” He hesitates. “Would it be better if I came back another day?”

She could send him away, bring him back later when she’s in a more pleasant frame of mind. Then again, sending him away to come back later is just prolonging the agony; there’s no point to it.

“No,” she says. “We might as well get this done. I guess, mostly, SHIELD just wants to know why you want to work for us.”

He thinks about this for a moment. “I’m a soldier,” he says at last. “I may not be in my time anymore, but I know what I am, what I can do. And...SHIELD is fighting a war that I can get behind; and my skills fit into your organisation. It seems a...good fit.”

Maria’s not so sure about that, but she knows when to hold her tongue.

“We’ll need to run you through things before we can get you out in the field. A lot of things have changed since your day.”

“I know. I’m happy to take whatever courses SHIELD feels is necessary to bring me up to speed.”

Her smile is a little grim. “Be careful what you offer right now, Captain. I’m feeling just ornery enough to take you up on it.”

“Then I appreciate the warning.” But he doesn’t take back his offer.

They go through the paperwork, piece by piece: hiring, salary, rental agreement, technology. This is technically beneath Maria’s paygrade, although a junior aide would probably have difficulty with the authorities required to issue his security passes, and any of the senior admin specialists would have difficulty with the range of the details required.

Which makes Fury a cunning bastard. Which she already knew, but it’s nice to have proof.

* * *

Maria Hill is going to kill her boss.

And this time, he’ll be really dead, instead of just seriously  _seriously_ injured.

She has two options: lie to SHIELD and anyone and everyone who she ever thought she could trust, or tell the wrong person and sentence both herself and Fury to death. Not much of a choice, really.

It’s not that she’s a bad liar or has an issue with selective truth; it’s just that she prefers not to. She’s not Romanoff, to be able to keep a dozen stories straight in her head; or Barton, to be able to compartmentalise private and personal from professional and public so neatly.

On the other hand, if she has to lie, she’ll make it a damn good one.

So she does. She lies to Romanoff, and to Rogers. She lies to Sitwell and to Pierce. She lies to Hand and to Thorpe. May doesn’t call. But if she did, Maria would lie to her, too.

She lies through her teeth to everyone she ever knew and trusted, in the bitter and stinging knowledge that she doesn’t know who’s been lying to her for the last however long and she can’t trust anyone except a leader half-dead, and a doctor half-retired.

“But you’re still going back in,” Doc Fine observes. “Gentlemen, take away the fool.”

Maria rolls her eyes. “Someone needs to find out what happened to Romanoff and Rogers. And keep an eye on what’s happening with Insight and the STRIKE teams because Pierce isn’t going to sit on his laurels – he has SHIELD, he has STRIKE, he has Insight. He’s got Fury out of the way and Rogers on the run, and I can’t take the helicarriers down by myself.”

“Would that stop you from trying?”

She thinks about it – she really does. “It wouldn’t be my first option.”

Luckily, she doesn’t have to do the job by herself. Although she does have to pull the rug out from under Fury – bring SHIELD down, completely, let the ashes settle and cool, and then – only then – can it even think about rising again.

And she has her doubts about that, too.

“I didn’t pick you out of the lineup to crash and burn my organisation, Hill.”

“Peggy Carter’s organisation,” Maria points out as she hefts the backpack for the break-in to get Rogers his suit.

“ _My_ organisation. And you want to take it down to the ground?”

“It was built on HYDRA, sir, back from day one.”

“You’ve been hanging around Rogers too long.”

The accusation stings; not least because there’s a kernel of truth in it. Still, Fury, of all people, should know better than to level  _that_ accusation at her.

“I don’t think SHIELD is HYDRA,” she says, level and angry and not afraid to let him see it. “I believe the world needs an organisation willing to stand between it and the unknown – for whom world security is a job and not just a team event. But I also believe that we can’t risk leaving the HYDRA tenets in place during rebuilding – protection isn’t control. And you taught me that.”

Fury stares at her for a long moment, then snorts, and the dark eye slides away. “Guess I didn’t want a bootlicker.”

“No,” Maria says solidly. “You didn’t.”

* * *

Maria Hill is going to kill her boss.

If Tony Stark makes one more crack about disloyalty and state secrets, all his AIs won’t save him.

And, sure, his pride is stung not only by the fact that she’s been working with Fury all this time but also by the Vision’s ability to pick up the Hammer, but he knew what Maria was when Pepper put her on the payroll.

And if he didn’t, he’s a smart boy; he should have figured it out.

“As a matter of fact, my contract was signed by Pepper as CEO of Stark Industries,” she reminds him. “You don’t have the power to fire me.”

He rolls his eyes and presses a button.

“ _Tony, I’ve got a meeting in five minutes._ ”

“That’s just enough time, actually. You need to fire Maria.”

“ _Actually_ ,” Pepper says, “ _she’s already resigned – much to my dismay_.”

“Resigned.” Stark glares at Maria – a narrow-eyed mock-glare. “You little—”

“ _Tony_ ,” Pepper interrupts, “ _is this because you’re mad about Fury? Because you really should have known better. Of Fury, and of Maria_.”

“Wait, what--? You _knew_ Fury was alive?”

“ _No, but I knew that Maria wasn’t working for us so much as for world security._ ”

“And you were _okay—_ No, never mind.”

“ _All right then, I won’t. Also, my meeting’s here. I’ll see you tomorrow when I get back, Tony. Maria, I’ll call when I get back and we’ll meet._ ” No fond farewells or conversation enders; Pepper knows how to finish a phonecall – just hang up.

Maria waits. After a moment, Stark shrugs and leans across the desk. “I’m still annoyed with you, you know.”

“Of course you are.” And the annoyance of Tony Stark isn’t something that Maria’s too worried about – she’s got more reason to be annoyed about him and his damned overprotectiveness that resulted in murderbots.

“And,” he says as his gaze drifts behind her, “I’m not the only one.”

Maria swivels in her chair and blinks at the sight of Steve Rogers, leaning one shoulder against the doorframe. Her stomach lurches, but she sighs and sits back, folding her arms. “And now for part two?”

“You know better than that,” Steve tells her. “I would have liked to know, but I’m also aware you have your secrets. But I won’t say I’m not hurt that you didn’t tell me.”

The sigh escapes her in spite of her best efforts. The worst part of it is that  _they don’t get it_ – both of them looking at how her actions affected them and their trust, and completely missing the big picture. 

“Hurt?” She asks, and sees Steve tense at her tone. “Hurt that I didn’t tell you that my first loyalty is to Earth? Hurt that I’m not in this for the Avengers or for SHIELD or Stark Industries? Hurt that you take second place in my responsibility to the people who don’t have Erskine’s serum or a billion dollars worth of technology? Because I thought you _knew_ that.”

Is her voice harder than it needs to be? Maybe, but she’s  _angry_ and, yes,  _hurt_ . Because she’s never lied – not to him, not to Stark, not to any of the Avengers.

She thought they – of all people on this planet and possibly off it – would  _understand_ .

“Clearly not,” Steve says, and his voice is clipped.

“Clearly,” Maria echoes.

* * *

Maria Hill is really mad at her boss right now.

Pulling her off the Avengers Initiative right before the Senate passed the Superhero Registration Act was, if not the most badly-timed decision Fury’s ever made, pretty damned close. Then again, as she watches the various newsfeeds report on chaos and mayhem of what they’re now calling ‘The Superhero Civil War’, she thinks that maybe even she couldn’t have hauled hard enough on the reins this time.

There’s only so much a woman can do when caught between Tony Stark with his overweening guilt-and-savior complex and Steve Rogers with his absolute assurance that what he’s doing is right.

Her phone beeps with a message, and she picks it up and winces.

Fury again.  _Righteous man incoming._

And, on cue, the doorbell rings.

She takes her gun to answer it, because there are still a fair few people who’d dance on her corpse. One look out the spyhole, though, and betrayal is the last thing on her mind.

She yanks the door open to find Rogers leaning against the wall opposite her apartment door, quite decidedly alive instead of the extremely dead that all the news channels are reporting. And Maria is not only rendered speechless with shock, but also by fury with Fury.

She supposes that after forty years of keeping secrets, the leopard is most definitely not about to change his spots.

Although the former Captain America looks very much like he’s about to change his spot – from propping up the wall of her apartment building to keeping the floor down.

“Hey,” he says, his voice rough and exhausted. “I took the stairs.”

She finds her voice. “You complete and utter idiot. God, what are you even doing out of medical?” Maria ducks under his arm to shoulder him and is surprised at how little he weighs. He’s lost a lot of his bulk, she thinks, his body now whipcord lean – supersoldier meets starvation. Then she tenses as Steve turns his face against her hair and begins to shake. “Rogers?”

She realises it’s just laughter when he lifts his head and murmurs, “It’s good to see you, too, Maria.”

Then he staggers, and keeping him upright takes priority. They manage to get him to the couch, and he kind of collapses back on it with a sigh. “You’re going to tell me that I look pretty bad.”

“For someone who’s alive, yes. For someone who’s supposed to be dead?” Maria shrugs. “You’re doing pretty well. What happened?”

“I’m not sure, except that Fury got me out.”

And could have given her a little more warning. Maria’s feeling quite discombobulated right now. “I’m going to kill him,” she murmurs, more to herself than Steve.

Still, Steve grins. “Again?”


End file.
